Labrador Retriever Forum
Had a buyer call me-they had switched over from PP puppy to the shredded-was not pleased with it. They don't want the SS&S so they asked me about Natures Variety, Merrick or Innova. Since I have no exp. with these foods can anyone give me their experiences-which out of the three would you recommen,d or not.
I know foods have been discussed but I searched and see a lot on Canidae and Innova but not the other two.
Thanks for your help.
I would have them feed the Innova. I do not use that, but I have had a few buyers switch to that. I did some research on it recently and it seems to be a well balanced food. I would NOT feed Natures Variety to a puppy. They do not make a puppy food and the calcium/ phosphorus ratio is not optimum for puppies.
Ive had good success with the Merrick for adults, but found it was too rich for the puppies. Ditto Innova, but now the a couple of the adults are on the reduced fat version and doing quite well on it.
What about Purina One if you like the chicken and rice version of ProPlan? Is there a formula that is close, either in the adult labeled for all ages or a puppy version? I use Eagle Holistic Chicken. Have seen another breeder's pups grown out on Purina One and thought that they were pretty good. It is available lots of places, and I am told it doesn't have the shreds.
Nature's Variety Prairie formula is an all life stages food. Just don't get the Instinct kind.
NV Instinct is great but not for growing pups or pregnant girls. Too hi in calcium
If you want grain free for breeding/whelp and pups go with Orijen LB pup formula.
I've been really happy going from PP Puppy to Nature's Variety at 4-5 months. The Chicken and Beef formulas are fine for puppies calcium-wise.
Can't give a good answer until we understand why the puppy buyer doesn't want to feed ProPlan. The chicken and the salmon are available. You said they don't want the salmon - why not? Why not the chicken? Or Performance (less filler, feed less, less poop, save more.) I agree the shredded is awful.
I used Merrick for a finicky singleton and it was fine but that was only 1 pup. I liked the ingredients but not the price. I don't know if I would have used it for a large litter. I was trying to get my singleton girl to eat. Her stool was perfect on it and she ate it better than everything else I tried with some enticing additives.
OP, did you ask them why they didn't like the food the puppy went home on? There are 2 strong possibilities, their vet didn't like it or they read too much on the internet. I have a feeling you'll be getting more calls about lots of things if that's the case. I hope I'm wrong.
Innova is too rich for puppies, and can cause joint laxity and other growth problem
Interesting that there is no real front runner-perhaps there are other options they are over looking.
Yes, they have been doing reading and are not happy with what they feel is a food with "less quality" ingred. then some of the above mentioned. They did not like the idea of a fish based food in the SS&S and the performance is too high in prot/fat for a non working dog . I should have said pup is 10 mos old and they did like the results of the PP puppy food, hated the shredded and from there started to look for better quality ingred-less fillers.
Thank you for all your input.
Have to agree with your puppy people about a fish based food, especially with a company like Purina who will not guarantee that their fish does not contain ethoxyquin. At 10 months the pup can go on adult food, and all the foods they mentioned are good foods, just have to find which one works best for the dog.
I have to say that I really like Nature's Variety Prairie. I rotated between the Chicken and Beef. I fed PP puppy until about 6 months and then switched to Prairie. This was probably the best my dogs have looked, beautiful coats and conditioning. But, I could not keep the weight on them that I wanted. This shouldn't be a problem for pet people and I really think they will like the results of the food...plus feel comfortable about the labels they are reading. :-) As well, it is one of the more economical for the quality. Innova is good as well but you have to be careful, especially for those pet people who may just throw food in the bowls and not want to take the time to figure out the "right" amount, as you can very easily get loose stool. If you over feed even a smidgen you can get diarrhea. Another food to look at is Eagle Holistic. The ingredients will make them happy and they even have a Large Breed Puppy. Certainly going to their adult at this point would be fine.
thank you to all who replied-I will pass on your input.
Thank you for the suggestion of Eagle pack as well for them to look into.
To Breeder: Why would you say this about Innova? Do you have information from a study or did you read it somewhere?
